ES2359624T3 - METHOD AND ADS SYSTEM DURING A PAUSE. - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of displaying a second video content (166, 176) in a video playback system (104) that displays the first video content, comprising: obtaining the second video content (166, 176); enter a pause mode (1002) in relation to the first video content in response to a user action, the user action comprising pressing a pause button, and then starting a timer; and during pause mode (1002) display the first video content with pauses in a video playback system display (104); characterized in that the method further comprises: allowing a user to set a time interval, in which the user's time interval is greater than zero seconds; and after the timer indicates that the time interval set by the user (1008) has elapsed, displaying the second video content (166, 176) of the video playback system (104).

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates in general to video data recorders and, more specifically, to a method and system for determining and reproducing video content in video data recorders.

Background of the invention

Advertisers have long tried to make sure that their ads reach the public they are intended for. Advertisers on television spend large amounts of money trying to ensure that their ads ("ads") are broadcast during television shows with the appropriate demographic characteristics. In this way, advertisers on television try to adapt the advertisement with the demographic characteristics of the audience for certain television programs by buying ad spaces of those television programs that they hope will attract the right audience for their ads. Unfortunately, there is no way for advertisers to know in real time if people are watching their ads or if they reach the target demographic groups. Likewise, there is no way for advertisers to determine the viewing patterns of each of the viewers or to direct advertisements to individual viewers since the same ads are broadcast to everyone who watches a particular program.

For several years Internet advertisers have been selecting the purpose of their ads. An advertiser on the Internet can currently register for an ad supply service, which attempts to distribute the advertiser's ads to users who are receptive to them. To view a web page on the Internet, a user enters the URL of the web page or clicks on a link on the web page. The web page is brought from the appropriate web server and an ad is brought from the ad service. The ad service tries to determine which ad to send to what type of user based on which web page you have requested and on several other known factors about the user (such as, for example, information about the user extracted from “cookies” or from procedures of user registration). Because the ad service is located on the server side, the ad service generally depends on one-size-fits-all rules to determine which ads to display for a given page request. Because the selection process is centrally located, performance requirements often need a simplification of the logic used to select an advertisement.

In addition, an Internet ad service is "associated" with the user's request. An Internet ad server is based on the ad that serves, at least partially, the URL of the requested web page. It is also important to note that the Internet ad server needs to send an ad to the user as quickly as possible because the user is waiting to receive the requested web page (along with any other content, such as ads) as soon as possible. . The fact that the typical Internet ad server has limited time makes it harder for the ad server to carry out elaborate methods to determine which ads to send. Overcoming this problem usually requires the use of very sophisticated computers to serve the ads.

Finally, Internet ad service solutions are based on requests. That is, an advertisement is served from the central server in response to a request. Because many requests are executed in parallel, advertisements for competing products can be served for each of the independent requests. While in theory the server could keep track of the ads that are served to each customer and eliminate serving two competing ads to the same customer, the centralized and service environment, with millions of users and with an ad service distributed in many Real servers, makes this extremely difficult.

In addition, an Internet ad server needs to be in substantially constant communication with the Internet, as ad requests are constantly received. Such a system was not intended to work in situations where the client receiving the ad is connected to the Internet only intermittently.

What is needed is a way of getting announcements to receptive audiences in which there is enough time to determine who could be the best objective for each particular announcement and in which the decision is sensitive to the context in which the request was made. ad. In addition, it is desirable that ads can be placed very quickly for each individual user. Finally, it is desirable to place opportunities to insert additional ad content for video playback.

Compendium of the invention

WO 98/59493 discloses a method for displaying a second video content in a video playback system that displays the first video content, comprising: obtaining the second video content, entering a pause mode with respect to the first video content in response to a user action, the user action comprising the same pressing a pause button, and then the start of a timer; and during pause mode, display the paused content of the first video on a video playback system display.

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A first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the method further comprises: allowing a user to set a time interval, in which the time interval he has set is greater than zero seconds; and after the timer indicates that the user's time interval has elapsed, display the second video content in the video playback system display.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to an apparatus configured to perform the method of displaying the second video content in a video playback system that displays the first video content, the method comprising: obtaining the second video content; introduce a pause mode in relation to the first video content in response to a user action, the user action comprising pressing a pause button, and then starting a timer; and during pause mode display the first video content with pauses in a video playback system display; characterized in that the method further comprises: allowing a user to set a time interval, in which the time interval he has set is greater than zero seconds, and after the timer indicates that the time interval set by the user has elapsed user, display the second video content in the video playback system display.

A third aspect of the present invention relates to a software product that contains instructions that when performed in a video playback system cause the video playback system to apply a method of displaying the second video content in a video system. video playback that displays the first video content, the method comprising: obtaining the second video content; introduce a pause mode in relation to the first video content in response to a user action, the user action comprising pressing a pause button, and then starting a timer; and during pause mode display the first video content with pauses in a video playback system display; characterized in that the method further comprises: allowing a user to set a time interval, in which the time interval set by the user is greater than zero seconds, and that after the timer indicates that the set time interval has elapsed by the user, display the second video content in the video playback system display.

The second video content may be a still or moving image. A preferred embodiment displays an advertisement (either a still or a moving image). Another preferred embodiment displays an advertisement selected by the user or a wallpaper design (such as family photos or video films).

The process of determining what second video content to view is called the ad selection process. The described embodiments disassociate the process of selecting ads from the request for the second video content. It should be understood that the invention can be used in a variety of devices, such as video data recorders and boxes on the top of the apparatus in which the device is not in continuous communication with an initial source of advertisements.

The context in which the described embodiment operates is a user video playback system. In a user video playback system a user selects the program content by previously playing the content “extracted” from a hard disk or similar suitable storage medium or turning on his television (or other content source) and selecting a program or show to see it. In the latter case the content of the selected program is received by the playback system; It is first stored in the storage medium and then reproduced on a display device such as a computer or a television monitor. A dynamic ad placement machine of a preferred embodiment preferably operates within the video playback system and needs to select ads only for a single video playback system. The ad placement machine in a particular video playback system always selects the ad content of that video playback system and does not have to spend time trying to determine the identity and preferences of each possible viewer of the content since only one Small subset of viewers see the content in a particular video playback system.

In the described embodiment, the device containing the dynamic ad placement machine is not necessarily always in communication with an initial ad source. For example, an ad source could periodically communicate with a video playback system such as once a day or several times a week, either at a fixed time or in response to an instruction or request, to obtain information about the ads. which can be displayed on the device.

Additionally, in the described embodiment, a dynamic ad placement machine is aware of the current context of the system before an ad request is received. In the described embodiment, the ad selection process is "disassociated" from the content and ad delivery process. Various software applications in the video playback system can determine at what times and under what circumstances they want to display ads. Applications do not necessarily depend on whether the user has changed the content being viewed to determine when to request and display ads. This system has a high-performance CPU and allows ads to be evaluated "without haste" before they are served.

The described embodiments of the present invention do not select advertisements for placement at the time the user selects the content they are viewing. Instead, the described embodiment of the present invention allows the user to select the content as a separate function. The selection of the announcement is not made at the time of the selection of content by the user, but instead, it is asynchronous with the actions of the user in the selection of the programming to watch. In this way, the ad selection machine gains an evaluation time to make a more informed decision about which ad should be displayed next by the video playback system.

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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 (a) is a block diagram of a video playback system that may include an advertisement placement software according to the present invention.

Figure 1 (b) is an example of a video playback system that displays a full page ad.

Figure 1 (c) is an example of a video playback system that displays a banner ad.

Figure 2 is an overview of a video playback system.

Figure 3 is an interaction diagram between an application and an ad placement machine in a video playback system.

Figure 4 is a block diagram of elements in the ad placement machine of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an example set of rules comprising an ad control file.

Figure 6 shows examples of types of ad parameters.

Figure 7 (a) shows the example rules of Figure 5 in the form of a table.

Figure 7 (b) shows an example trigger table that includes the ad trigger of Figure 5.

Figure 8 shows an example of a stack data structure.

Figure 9 (a) shows a flow chart of a method performed when a new ad control file is received from the server.

Figure 9 (b) shows a flow chart of a method performed when a context update occurs.

Figure 9 (c) is a flowchart showing a method of selecting an ad in response to an ad request.

Figure 10 is a flowchart showing a method of displaying an advertisement during the pause (or other video).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the figures in which the same reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.

The described embodiment contains a dynamic ad placement machine as a component in an advertising system. The described advertising system is preferably located in a device such as a video playback system (for example, a video playback system sold by Replay TV, Inc. of Mountain View, CA) although the present invention can be used with other devices, which include other video playback systems, which include, but are not limited to, interactive TV, applications and devices at the top of the device, and portable video players.

1. Example video playback system

Figure 1 (a) is a view of a video playback system 104 on the client side and a display 106. In Figure Figure 112 (such as a television program) is received from a broadcaster and is passed to a display (such as a television set) 106 along with other content such as advertisements and programming guides. The invention can be applied in a wide range of devices. The client-side unit 104 contains a storage medium (not shown), such as a hard disk, which is used to store the incoming program signal and other information. The saved signal can then be seen at a later time or it can be seen immediately from the storage medium. The unit 104 on the client side includes a processor and memory (or similar components used to direct the functionality of the unit) and applies the described functions of the determined unit 104. The video playback system 104 on the client side may Make placement decisions when disconnected from the initial ad source, such as an ad server.

The video playback system 104 on the client side receives control information 128, such as ad guides and programs, from a server and sends control information 129, such as ad impressions and accounting information, to the server. It is understood that the system can receive various types of programming that includes, but is not limited to, cable content, television content, high definition TV content, digital TV content, paid TV content, and content transmission by Internet. It is also understood that the display device 106 may be any appropriate type of display device, which includes, but is not limited to, a digital or analog television set, an Internet device, a cellular device, or a wireless device. The video playback unit and the display device can be independent (as shown), integrated together, or divided into units even more functional than those shown.

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It is understood that an application of the video player uses a telephone line to establish one or more of the control lines 128/129. The information is passed to and from the client side 104 on a regular basis (such as every 24 hours). In this way the system downloads advertisements from the server relatively infrequently. In the described embodiment, the system receives information via a telephone line and receives daily all the announcements it will place during the following 24 hours. Other applications use an Internet connection such as 128/129 lines and connect regularly or on a more frequent basis.

Figure 1 (a) also shows a remote control device 130, which is used to control the video playback system. In other embodiments the system is controlled, for example, by the Internet or by means of controls on the client side unit 104 itself.

2. Video playback system on the client side

to. Ad placement machine

The main responsibility of an ad placement machine in accordance with the described embodiments is the evaluation, placement, and systematic filing of ad placement in its individual video playback system. In a described embodiment, a software application requests an advertisement (or indicates the existence of an advertisement opportunity). These can be, for example, advertisements displayed during a user-initiated pause in the displayed video stream. Other types of ads include main ads to be placed on a video player main menu and ads to be placed on banners or in display areas reserved for ads. The described embodiments of the present invention can be used on any client side element with any software application that places advertisements in an appropriate place and circumstance.

The described embodiments decide which advertisements to place based on factors such as the context, history, user profile, and specific limitations of each advertisement. An example user context could include the program that is currently being viewed by the user. It should be noted that the user may have been watching this current program for any amount of time (hours, minutes, or seconds). In some applications the placement of the advertisement may occur after an initial request of the user of a video program or other content.

Figure 1 (b) is an example of a video playback system that displays a full page ad. The example shows that the display 106 in a video playback system displays the current program 164, which may either be a program that is currently being received by the system or a previously received program. At some points in time, in this example, a software application that controls the display decides to display a full page ad. As described in detail below, the application requests an advertisement from a dynamic ad placement machine and displays the resulting advertisement 166 in the display 106. It is important to note that, in the displayed embodiment, the application request for an advertisement is disassociated from the request of the content by the user. For example, the user may have watched the same program / content for several hours, but when he pauses the program to take a bite, the application may decide to request and display a full-page ad as shown. On the contrary, the user can go through the channels all night, change the program displayed on the display 106 every few minutes. In certain applications the user's actions can activate a request for an advertisement and in other applications a night of touring the channels will not activate such request. The request and display of advertisements are controlled by the control application. In some embodiments, an advertisement is requested as soon as the user presses the pause button. In other embodiments, for example, the announcement is requested a predetermined time interval after the user has pressed the pause button.

Figure 1 (c) is an example of a video playback system that displays a flag advertisement 176. A flag advertisement may be displayed in a predetermined part of the display or in a portion of the display decided by the application controlling the display. . In one embodiment the flag advertisement 176 is displayed together with the program guide displayed in the display 106. In other embodiments the flag advertisement 176 is displayed as part of a "zone" guide display or next to the program content.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of one side of the server and one side of the client of an exemplary video playback system 200 that may include the ad placement software according to the present invention. The figure includes a server 102 as well as a client 104 and a display 106. The system receives signals from a broadcaster 110, such as a television broadcaster, cable, or pay radio that broadcasts one or more programs 112 (such as a broadcast of video) to a video capture machine 131 on the client side 104. The video capture machine 131 contains a tuner (if necessary) to select which of the possible programs 112 to receive, and a storage medium (such as a hard disk) that retains program 112 when it is received. The user can then choose to view program 112 when it is being received or save program 112 to play it at a later time (or both).

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Server 102 includes an advertising section 120 that allows a user to create ad campaigns, perform ad management, and track advertising (placement tracking and viewing); an asset manager 122 that manages ad distribution, tracking information, etc; a program creation section of program 124, and one or more playback servers 126. Alignments 114 of programs to be broadcast in the future are sent to a program creation guide 124, which creates guide data 123 of the program that is passed to the client side 104 through the replay server 126. The asset manager 122 collects, labels, and creates planning rules for advertisements (digital assets 125). The digital assets 125 (such as the content of the advertisement and sets of advertisement rules) are passed to the client side 104 for display in accordance with the present invention. A broadcast planning (such as the planning rules) is passed to the client side 104 for use in electronic programming guide applications. As discussed below, some of the electronic programming guide data can also be used in ad placement guidance. The information passed to the client side 104 from the playback server 102 is designated by reference number 128.

The client 104 includes the video capture machine 131, which passes the content of the programming captured to the asset manager 130. The asset manager 130 also passes tuning data to the video capture machine 131, indicating when the user It has, for example, changed the television or cable channel.

The client side 104 also includes an ad placement machine 132 that communicates with the asset manager 130. The ad placement machine 132 is described in more detail below. One or more applications 133 communicate with the ad placement machine 132 to register the advertisements. It will be understood that the described system is only a possible example of a video playback system incorporating the present invention.

Figure 3 is an interaction diagram between one or more software applications 133 and an ad placement machine 132 in a video playback system 104 on the client side. It should be understood that application 133 may be any appropriate application, including, but not limited to, an electronic programming guide or a video viewed by a user. The applications described 133 have the possibility of detecting a change of viewing context in the system. For example, the user could change the television channel so that a new program was displayed on the display 106. This change of channel would cause a change in the viewing context.

When the application 133 detects a change in viewing context (or shortly thereafter) it sends a context update 310 to the ad placement machine 132. The ad placement machine 132 updates its context information as discussed below. (For example, the global parameter g_programtitle as shown in Figure 5 could be altered to reflect the new program title). In the figure, zero or more changes may occur in the viewing context before making a request for an advertisement. If, for example, the user is going through the channels, many context updates could be made before making a request for an ad. If the user always watches the same program for several hours, many ad requests could be made but no context updates could occur. Changes in context may include, but are not limited to, changes in context that result from the change by the channel user in the video playback system. Other changes in context include changes in time (that is, time passing) and program changes within a channel.

As shown in Figure 3, when an ad placement machine 132 receives an update in context, it again calibrates an order and a weight of the data in a data stack structure (see Figure 8). This step could also add ads to, or delete ads from, the stack. In the described embodiment this step constitutes re-calibrating the ad stack as described below in connection with Figure 9 (b).

When a screen with an advertisement opportunity is to be displayed, the application 133 requests 320 an advertisement to the advertisement placement machine 132. In the described embodiment, an application could request an advertisement in several situations. For example, the user can choose to “pause” in the programming he is currently watching. Because the programming is "wound" in the video capture machine 131 (or was previously stored in the video capture machine 131 and is now being played), the video capture machine 131 saves the incoming programming signal during the period in which the "pause" was displayed. In the described embodiment, the pause function begins to display an advertisement for a period of time after the pause has occurred. For example, the announcement can be displayed 10 or 20 seconds after the pause has occurred. In the described embodiment the advertisement displayed in pause mode is generally a full-page advertisement (see Figure 1 (b)), although it could also be another appropriate type of advertisement. Thus, the user no longer sees the content that has been paused in the display 106 and begins to see the advertisement. In the described embodiment, the user may indicate that he does not wish to see advertisements during the pause, either as a global indication that affects all the advertisements during the pause, or in a case-by-case mode, in which the user cancels each of the ads during the break. The user can set the amount of time that passes before the ads during the pause are displayed in the pause mode.

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After selecting an advertisement, 322 is returned to application 133, where it is displayed.

In another embodiment, the application interpolates advertisements in predetermined areas of the electronic programming guide (see, for example, Figure 1 (c)). Thus, whenever the application is going to display the electronic programming guide, it requests an advertisement and inserts it in the default area of the electronic programming guide. This ad can be a full screen or a banner ad that does not occupy the entire screen. For example, the ad can be a banner ad inserted by the application on the "zone" page that displays various categories or "zones" of programming (news, sports, content of predefined license holders, etc.). It is understood that a dynamic ad placement machine according to the present invention could be used to deliver ads to any appropriate application. In addition, in certain embodiments, the application 133 and the dynamic ad placement machine 132 are linked and are not independent modules.

After a successful display of an advertisement, application 133 sends a request 330 to systematically archive the placement of the advertisement.

Figure 4 shows a detail of the ad selection. In response to an ad request 320, the ad placement machine 132 selects an ad from the top of an ad stack 350 and returns 322 the selected ad to the requesting application, in which it is displayed in an appropriate manner. . As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the stack 350 may have been recalibrated between the moment an update of the context 310 was received and when a request 320 was received. The ad placement machine 132 preferably does not It is directly responsible for the user-interface (UI) functionality, such as ad presentation or user navigation. On the other hand, the ad placement machine 132 makes informed decisions based on the current application context. The fact that the context update information 310 is exchanged before an ad request allows the ad placement machine to have more time to select an optimal ad. When the user finally makes a tour in search of an appropriate screen location for the placement of the advertisement (as determined by the application) the application 132 requests an advertisement from the advertisement placement machine 132. When an advertisement placement occurs 320, the ad placement machine 132 consults its ad stack 350 and returns the ad to the top of the stack (or the ad that is weighted higher so far if it runs out of time on systems that require an ad to be returned within a maximum period of time). The information returned in response to an ad request contains enough information for the application to display the ad.

Finally, after displaying the advertisement, the application 302 sends information for the systematic file 330 to the ad placement machine 132 to inform it that the advertisement has been displayed. The ad placement machine 132 archives the information from the systematic file and eventually passes the information from the systematic file to the server 102.

Figure 4 is a block diagram of elements in the ad placement software 132 of Figure 3. These elements include an executable ad placement 302 and interpreted runtime rules 304. The executable software Ad placement 302 contains the runtime functionality of ad placement software 132. Rules 304 are executed by a rule interpreter at runtime. In the described embodiment, the entry and exit points for the evaluation of rules are known and fixed at the time of compiling the software 302. For example, the weight achieved by any advertisement can be determined by a rule executed in the runtime and, therefore, be known only at runtime, while the timing and frequency of the evaluation of the weight determination rule is only determined at the time of compiling the software 302.

Additionally, the data structures that are used to prioritize and manage advertisements (for example, stack 300) exist in the executable domain 302. The mixture of executable / binary functionality and rules interpreted in the described embodiment provides a combination of flexibility and reliability of operation. Other embodiments may use other combinations of binary and / or interpreted software. Figure 4 is provided by way of example only.

In this embodiment the advertisements maintain their own status (for example, by the local parameters discussed below). The rules of an ad reference of that local state of the ad, also as global context parameters, which allow some flexibility in the values returned by the rule.

When a new ad from server 102 has been loaded, the executable and placement software 302 loads the ad control file that contains the rule set that describes the ad and stores it as a new rule in rule sets 351 on the executable side. In certain embodiments, ads have a rule that determines the expiration date of the ad. For each advertisement, the executable and placement software 302 evaluates the interpreted rules 304 to determine if an older version of the loaded rule has expired 360. If the oldest version of the ad has expired, its rule set is removed from the system. In any case, the new rule set of the new announcement is stored in rule sets 351. A status is returned 362 from the expiration request.

When a change of context is received (or an activation case occurs, as will be described later), the placement and weight of the advertisements are reassessed 370 according to the placement and weight rules of the respective announcements. A placement and weight result is returned 372 for each ad and the position of the ads on the stack is modified accordingly.

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When an application indicates that an advertisement has been placed, a status update is sent to the interpreted rules 304, so that the local parameters of the set of rules set for the advertisement can be updated. A status of update 382 is returned.

b. Sample control file as an example

Figure 5 is an example set of rules comprising an ad control file. Each ad has an ad control file associated with it. An advertisement control file is the unit sent to the client 104 and defines the appearance, placement, and other rules associated with an advertisement. The example is encoded in XML format, although any appropriate format is sufficient. Each rule 502-532 has a name, type and value of the parameter. Note that the rules whose names begin with "exp" and "stmt" refer to the local parameters of the ad and the global parameters (discussed below). The rules whose names begin with "l_ *" define local parameters. Each rule evaluates a value of the type defined in the rule (value 32, character string, etc.).

As shown in Figure 5, the name space includes pairs <parameter, value>. The parameters can be of one of several types, including character string, int, floating point. In a preferred embodiment the parameters are stored on disk, which is memory efficient, but slow. Due to the decision regarding the placement of the ad is disassociated from the context change and does not have to be done quickly, slow access can be accepted due to the storage of the parameters on disk. Other embodiments may store parameters in memory.

C. Ad Parameters

Figure 6 shows examples of types of ad parameters that are referenced in the rules. The global parameters and context (such as time and day of the week, gender and channel) are updated asynchronously with the placement of the ads. Local ad parameters (such as impressions and "previous / last placement") are updated after the placement of the ad.

d. Data structures

Figure 7 (a) shows some of the exemplary rules of Figure 5 in table form, as they could be stored in the interpreted rules software 304. Any appropriate way to store parameters, rules (here, a type of parameter), and activators can be used to practice the present invention.

Figure 7 (b) shows a table of triggers that includes the trigger parameter of the advertisement in Figure 5. In this example the trigger is TOD (time of day). Each time the global parameter TOD is updated, the placement value of ad 1025 is evaluated again. It should be noted that not all ads have an associated trigger. Some ads have more than one associated trigger.

Figure 8 shows an example of a stack data structure. As is known by persons of ordinary skill in the art, a stack is a data structure in which it is guaranteed that the children of a node have a lower priority than that of the father. In the present case this means that the node at the top of the top of the stack 350 has the highest placement priority, and it is the announcement that should be placed next in response to an announcement request. Note that in a preferred embodiment the stack is updated after a system context change. However, when the ad placement machine receives an ad request, the stack has already been sorted so that the node at the top of the stack corresponds to the ad that should be placed next and no additional work needs to be done on the stack in response to an ad request. Thus, the response time of the ad placement machine to an ad request can be extremely short.

In the described embodiment, battery 350 is introduced according to the following formula for each advertisement:

Placement value * weight (weight)

Thus, each ad has a placement value defined by the ad placement rule. Some ads have weights, defined by one or more rules about weight. Whenever an ad is reassessed, the ad placement value is determined again and multiplied by its or its weights, if applicable. This may result in advertisements that are added to, or deleted from, the stack. In the described embodiment, if an advertisement has a placement value of "0" it is moved to the bottom of the stack. Otherwise, the advertisement is placed in stack 350 in a place according to its weighted placement value.

and. Flowcharts

Figure 9 (a) shows a flow chart of a method applied when a new ad control file is received from the server. When a new announcement is received, any triggers of the announcement are added to the trigger table. The rules of the new ad are stored. If applicable, old versions of the rules are replaced.

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Figure 9 (b) shows a flow chart of an applied method when a context update occurs. First, the trigger table is checked to determine if any affected context parameters are triggers of any ads. A placement value and one or more ad weight values are calculated.

Figure 9 (b) is a flow chart showing a method applied when the context parameters are updated in the system. When a parameter is updated, the trigger table is checked to see if the parameter is an activating parameter of any advertisement. If it is, the system reassesses the placement values of the activated ads according to the rules of placing the ads (this may result in ads being added to the stack). In the example in Figure 5 the trigger parameter is TOD. Thus, when the global TOD parameter is updated, as is done periodically, the placement rule and the weight of the activated advertisement and having an ad_id 1025 are determined, and the advertisement is added to its appropriate place in stack 350. Figure 9 (c) is a flowchart that shows a method for selecting an advertisement in response to an advertisement request. In the described embodiment, the announcements in stack 350 have already been sorted for the current context. In this way, the announcement of the top is removed from the stack 350 and returned as the announcement to be displayed. In certain embodiments the local variables of the ads removed are reassessed at this point. Once a guarantee has been received that the ad was displayed, the placement value (and weight) of the ad is recalculated, and the ad is placed back in the stack as shown in Figure 4. In the example the weight2 value will force the ad to be moved to the bottom of the stack. Thus, if the context is not updated for a long period of time, all the ads in the stack will be displayed in a "round robin" form when each one is taken to the bottom of the stack after it has been displayed.

F. Placement Rules

The following paragraph discusses the placement rule as an example exp_placement. Each ad in the system has an associated placement rule. This placement rule will be delivered to the customer through the same mechanism in which other ad-specific parameters are delivered. The rule is a Boolean element with the following syntax:

Expression: Operand | Operand Binary-op Operand

Operand: Number | String | NULL | Identifier | “(“ Expression ”)”

String: "" "ASCII-characters" ""

Number: Integer-constant | Floating-constant NULL: "N" "U" "L" "L" Binary-op: "+" | "-" | "/" | "*" | "=" | "!" | "<" | ">" | "> =" | "<=" | "Ll" | "&&"

An operand that references an undefined parameter values as 0 or “” depending on the context. In the described embodiment, the placement rules may determine the placement of an advertisement according to one or more parameters in relation to the context (for example, the title of the program); history (for example, the total number of occurrences ever displayed on this system); the user's profile (for example, a viewer category number could be pushed to the device from a server or it could be obtained); and the frequency (for

example, time in seconds of the period of the last placement of the ad).

Example placement rules:

/ * viable if time has exceeded 968630400 (epoch seconds) * /

exp_placement = g_time> = 968630400

/ * viable if time of day is between 79200 and 75540 seconds * /

exp_placement = (79200 <= g_tod) && (g_tod <= 75540)

g. Ad Weighting

The evaluation of an ad placement rule is a value that is used by default to weigh the ad placement among all other viable ads.

Note that this functionality could be integrated into the placement rule itself without change in logic, but for greater clarity it can be separated into an independent weighting evaluation. This separation also serves as a model for the fact that “business rules” or placement logic can be defined in

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an independent phase of the weighting sales process. The weighting will be more possibly defined as part of the traffic or after-sales process.

In this way, the separation into two parameters allows the placement and weighting logic to be formed during the independent phases of the sales process.

Weighting rules as an example:

/ * a constant weight throughout the life of the campaign * /

exp_weight = 40

/ * an increasing weight proportionate the time passed * /

exp_weight = 40 + (((g_time-968630400) / 2419200) * 20)

h. Expiry Rules

In the described embodiment, the expiration rules are evaluated at the time of loading and before and after placement.

The same namespace and syntax used for a placement rule can be used to implement an expiration rule. An expiration rule is evaluated whenever the list of ads is resubmitted and periodically during the operation. An evaluation that produces non-zero indicates that the ad has expired. The expiration rule will be delivered as a parameter called "rule_expiration".

Expiry rules as an example:

/ * ad is expired if concurrences exceeds 50 or a time is passed * /

exp_expired = ((l_occs> = 50) || (g_time> = 969580800))

i. Status update rules

Each ad will store a limited number of local parameters that are used in the evaluation of placement, weighting, and ad expiration rules. Following the placement of an ad, any of these parameters can be updated according to a set of status update rules.

The syntax of these rules is:

Assignment-list: Assignment-statement Assignment-list

Assignment- statement: Identifier “=” Expression “,” Note: Expression is defined as previously in the Placement Rules section. The status update rule is evaluated once after each successful placement of the ad. Other

embodiments implement several status update mechanisms, including one for placement with success, another for failed placement, etc. Status update rules as an example:

/ * local bump count of occurrences * /

stmt_winner_update = l_occs = l_occs + 1;

/ * set time and occurrence count of placement * /

stmt_winner_update = l_last_time = g_time; l_last_occ = g_occs

j. Placement with “round-robin” priority

In the described embodiments, a priority order rotates throughout the advertisements in a "round-robin" form. An ad position in rotation should be maintained throughout the restarts. Deleting, replacing, or adding an ad does not reset its position in the rotation. As described above, this rotation order is currently applied using the weight2 parameter that forces an ad to go to the bottom of stack 350 after the ad has been placed.

k. Other rules in the example

The following paragraphs discuss other rules in the example in Figure 5. Ad_id 502: an identification number of this ad.

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Ad_rev 504: a revision number of this announcement. This parameter allows an ad to expire if other ads with the same name have a higher ad_rev value.

Ad_type 506: This specifies a type of ad request for which this ad will be placed. For example, this ad will only be placed when an application requests an ad during the “pause”. In the described embodiment the advertisements during the pause are of a size that fill the entire screen (unlike the banner ads, which are smaller). Other types include banner ads and ads that appear in an area of the page, next to a type of programming zone.

Ad_pools 508: This specifies a type of programming for which the ad will be placed. For example, the value "9002" may indicate that the ad will be placed only for science fiction programming. Pools may also reflect geographic groups.

Ad_files 510: This specifies one or more “collateral” files needed to display the ad. For example, a collateral file may include a bitmap graphic needed to display the ad. Collateral files can also be broadcast independently of the ad control file.

Ad_triggers 512: As discussed earlier, the TOD parameter is an activator of this ad. Any parameter can be an activator.

Ad_genre 514: currently not used.

Exp_placement 516: placement rule for this ad. This ad is placed when the expression produces a certainty value. It is evaluated whenever the context changes.

Exp_expired 518: expiration rule for this ad.

Exp_weight 520 and Exp_weight 522: The first weight is used to weigh the placement value of it and before the ad is placed on the stack. The second weight is used in this embodiment to force the advertisement to go to the bottom of the stack after it has been displayed. This helps establish a round robin placement order.

Exp_winner 524: This series of characters is passed to the application to tell it which file to display to represent the ad.

Stmt_winner_update 526: This causes the specified local variables to be updated when the ad is removed from the stack.

Exp_winner log 528: This series of characters is written to the file when the ad is displayed.

Ad_preserve list 530: This indicates the local parameters that will be maintained for this announcement.

L_occs: L_last_time: L_last_occ 532: These are local parameters used in this announcement.

3. Announcements during the break

As described above, one type of advertisement that can be displayed is an advertisement during the pause. An announcement during pause is an announcement (or similar video or movie image) displayed during a pause interval, which occurs when the user places the video playback device in a pause mode. The announcement during the pause (or other video) can be a still or animated image (such as a video clip). An embodiment displays an advertisement (either a still or animated image). One embodiment displays an advertisement selected by the user or design of wallpaper paper (such as family photos or video films).

The ad is requested to remain a predetermined time interval after the user has pressed the pause button. For example, the advertisement may be displayed 10 or 20 seconds after the announcement has been paused to allow the user time to view the display with pauses. The amount of time before an ad is displayed is user definable. In a preferred embodiment, the advertisement displayed in pause mode is generally a full-page advertisement (see Figure 1 (b)), although it could also be another appropriate type of advertisement. In this way the user no longer sees the content with pauses in the display 106 and begins to see the advertisement. In a preferred embodiment the user may indicate that he does not wish to see advertisements during the pause, either as a global indication that affects all the advertisements during the pause, or in a case-by-case mode, in which the user cancels each of ads during the pause (preferably using a button on the screen or any other appropriate mechanism). The user can set the amount of time that passes before the ads during the pause are displayed in pause mode. Certain embodiments also allow the user to set the type of ads during the pause he wishes to see, excluding other types of ads during the pause.

A preferred embodiment includes a type of advertisement that represents the content provided by the user. For example, the user can decide if he wants a spontaneous photo of his last vacation to appear on the screen when the pause button is pressed. The user could also select an animated short video clip. In a preferred embodiment these animated images or video clips are obtained from any appropriate source such as the user's home computer (connected to the video playback unit directly or through a network such as the Internet) or from any other user in such a network like internet In such an embodiment the video playback unit includes functionality to interface with the video source and to download the video and store it within the video playback unit. Alternatively, the video could be stored externally in the video playback unit and retrieve it when necessary. The video playback unit could also interface with another video playback unit to allow users to exchange videos (animated or still images) on a network such as the Internet.

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Figure 10 is a flowchart showing a method of displaying an advertisement during the pause (or other video). The video playback unit enters the pause mode 1002, for example, by pressing the user a pause key on the screen, by means of the remote control, or on the unit itself. In the described embodiment, the application displays 1004 a flag indicating that the unit has entered the pause mode and a timer starts. If the timer indicates that a configurable time interval is running 1008, the application obtains an advertisement from an ad source such as the ad placement machine described above. Other embodiments of the present invention may obtain advertisements from other appropriate sources such as the Internet or from an external storage site. As already mentioned, the advertisement may be a commercial advertisement or it may be another type of fixed or animated video such as an image or video supplied by the user. The ad is displayed on the video screen with pauses and the ad placement machine is notified that the ad was placed (if convenient).

The application then performs various functions depending on the next key pressed 1012. If the user indicates that the unit must display a channel guide, a playback guide, or a play area menu 1016, the announcement is removed from the display. . If the user selects an output function 1018, the announcement is removed from the display, even if the video remains frozen and the audio remains silent 1020. In the described embodiment the time interval value is changed to 60 seconds.

If the user indicates a stop function 1024, the application removes the ad and displays a stop bitmap. If the user indicates a playback function or indicates a pause for a second time (ie, pause switches) 1028, 1030, the application removes the announcement and resumes live or recorded playback 1032. If the user indicates a forward function Quick 1034 The application removes the ad and returns the video image by image 1038 until another 1040 key is pressed.

Steps 1042-1070 are similar to steps 1012-1040. Steps 1042-1070 are performed when a key is pressed before displaying the announcement during the pause (that is, when the configurable time interval of step 1008 has not yet elapsed) and the user has indicated new functionality.

In both steps 1040 and 1070, when a key has not been pressed, but a predetermined period of time (such as 60 seconds) has elapsed, the control returns to step 1004 and a new pause is obtained and displayed. Thus, in the described embodiment, the advertisements displayed during pause mode are changed periodically. Other embodiments may not change the ad during the pause. This might be desirable, for example, if the announcement during the pause was a family photo selected by the user.

From the foregoing descriptions it will be apparent that the present invention set forth herein provides a novel and advantageous method and system of advice on which advertisements to place on a video playback machine on the client side. The above discussion sets forth and describes preferred embodiments and methods by way of example of the present invention. As will be understood by persons skilled in the art, the invention can be carried out in other specific ways without departing from the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

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Claims (18)

1. A method of displaying a second video content (166, 176) in a video playback system (104) that displays the first video content, comprising: get the second video content (166, 176); enter a pause mode (1002) in relation to the first video content in response to a user action, the user action comprising pressing a pause button, and then starting a timer; Y during pause mode (1002) display the first video content with pauses in a video playback system display (104); characterized in that the method further comprises: allowing a user to set a time interval, in which the user's time interval is greater than zero seconds; Y after the timer indicates that the user set time interval (1008) has elapsed, displaying the second video content (166, 176) of the video playback system (104).

2.

 A method claimed in claim 1, wherein the second video content (166, 176) is a commercial advertisement, an image selected by the user, a still photograph selected by the user, a video clip selected by the user, an advertisement Fixed commercial, a commercial that contains a video clip, or an animated video movie.

3.

 A method claimed in claim 1, wherein the second video content (166, 176) is obtained from an ad placement machine (132).

Four.

 A method claimed in claim 1, wherein the second video content (166, 176) is obtained from external storage.

5.

 A method claimed in claim 1, wherein the second video content (166, 176) is downloaded from a computer connected to the video playback system (104).

6.

 A method claimed in claim 1 further comprising displaying a pause flag during pause mode (1002).

7.

 A method claimed in claim 1, wherein the second video content (166, 176) occupies a full page or less than the entire display.

8.

 A method claimed in any of claims 1-7, wherein the user's action comprises the user pressing a pause key on a display screen (106).

9.

 A method claimed in any one of claims 1-7, wherein the user's action comprises the user pressing a pause key on a remote control (130).

10.

 A method claimed in any one of claims 1-7, wherein the user's action comprises the user pressing a pause key in the video playback system (104).

11. A method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the video playback system

(104)

 It comprises a storage means for storing an incoming program signal.

12. A method claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the video playback system

(104)

 It comprises a machine for placing a second video content (132), the method comprising:

Obtain the second video content from the second video content placement machine (132) if the timer indicates that the time interval set by the user is running. 13. A method claimed in claim 12, further comprising the method: receiving the second video content placement machine (132) a context update and re-calibrating an order and a weight of the second video content in a data stack structure. 14. An apparatus configured to perform a method of displaying a second video content (166, 176) in a video playback system (104) that displays the first video content, the method comprising: get the second video content (166, 176); Entering a pause mode (1002) in relation to the first video content in response to a user action, the user action comprising the user pressing a pause button and then starting a timer; Y image 1 during pause mode (1002) display the first video content in a video playback system display (104); characterized in that the method further comprises: allow a user to set a time interval, in which the time interval set by the user is greater than zero seconds; Y After the timer indicates that the user set time interval (1008) has ended, display the second video content (166, 176) in the video playback system display (104).

fifteen.

 An apparatus claimed in claim 14, wherein the video playback system (104) comprises a storage means for storing an incoming program signal.

16.

 An apparatus claimed in any of claims 14 or 15, wherein the video playback system (104) comprises a second video content placement machine (132), and the method further comprises:

obtain a second video content from the second video content placement machine (132) if the timer indicates that the user's time interval is running. 17. An apparatus claimed in claim 16, wherein the method further comprises: receiving the second video content placement machine (132) a context update and re-calibrating an order and a weight of the second video content in a data stack structure. 18. A software product that contains instructions that when performed on a video playback system (104) causes the video playback system (104) to apply a method of displaying the second video content (166, 176) in a video playback system (104) that displays the first video content, the method comprising: get the second video content (166, 176); Entering a pause mode (1002) in relation to the first video content in response to a user action, the user comprising the action that the user presses a pause button, and then starts a timer; Y during pause mode (1002) display the first video content with pauses in a video playback system display (104); characterized in that the method further comprises: allow the user to set a time interval, in which the time interval set by the user is greater than zero seconds; Y after the timer indicates that the set time interval (1008) has elapsed, display the second video content (166, 176) in the display (106) of the video playback system (104).